Today’s pop charts are featuring an increasing number of songs whose titles are so profane, they can’t even be printed.

(Caution–this story has a lot of words we’ve had to dash out.)

Cee-Lo Green’s song “F— You” has a curse word right in the hook; when actress-singer Gwyneth Paltrow re-recorded the song on the musical series “Glee,” she sang a tamer version titled “Forget You.”

Pink has a new song near the top of the iTunes charts called “F–kin’ Perfect”; and Chris Brown–who made headlines for attacking his now ex-girlfriend Rihanna–released a new song called “No B——t.” Enrique Iglesias has a song out called “Tonight (I’m F–kin’ You)” featuring Ludacris and DJ Frank E.

Cursing in popular music isn’t new–anyone who has listened to an album by Snoop Dogg or Eminem can tell you that. And lots of rock groups have put out tracks with profane titles, but they usually don’t make the singles charts. (Green Day, a bestselling pop punk band, has a new live album coming out called “Awesome As F**k.” But they’re punks, so this is not unexpected.) What is new is the number of mainstream, chart-making songs that feature swear words right in their title, making them unprintable in family blogs.

The trend is echoed on TV. The CBS sitcom “$#*! My Dad Says” made headlines (partially censored ones) for its provocative title; now ABC reportedly is set to pick up a show called “Don’t Trust The B—- In Apartment 23.” Even Broadway has gotten into the act with the coming show “The Motherf**ker With the Hat,” starring Chris Rock.

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.